Barcelona won their midweek fixture 4-1 against Malaga, with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296 scoring a hat-trick and taking a big leap towards claiming the Pichichi award this season.
Barcelona faced Malaga over the weekend and even though a Real Madrid victory against Athletic Bilbao would mean that Barcelona have lost the title, it was a fixture which would help the Catalan giants boost their morale for the upcoming Copa del Rey final
later this month.
Before the game against Malaga, Busquets and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pedro-c29582 Rodriguez clearly told the press how they want Lionel Messi to win the Pichichi this season and how the whole team is going to try and present the Argentine with the goal scoring chances he requires to win
the award.
Therefore, throughout the game it was seen how the whole Catalan side backed the Argentinean maestro so he can score goals and despite the early setbacks, Messi was able to complete a hat-trick on the night and went three goals clear at the top, until http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ronaldo-c31734
later scored against Bilbao and cropped the gap to two goals between both the star players.
Josep Guardiola has to play a strong side during the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao; therefore, he is resting a lot of his players so that they are fresh enough when they play later this May.
The Catalan coach fielded his favourite 4-3-3 against a tough-looking Malaga side, but changed a few players and did not play a first-choice team.
Victor Valdes was rested and Jose Manuel http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pinto-c30032 was the one standing between the two sticks. Pinto was aided by four defenders, two full-backs and two centre-backs.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-c9879 Alves started the game in the right-back position.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Seydou-Keita-c33177 who took responsibility in the holding midfield position. Cesc Fabregas was the player who replaced Xavi Hernandez in the midfield.
The front three were also changed. With http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexis-Sánchez-c4979 not named in the squad facing Malaga, it was Pedro Rodriguez who featured on the right flank while Andres Iniesta played on the left. Lionel Messi was the one who played in his favourite ‘false 9’ position.
On the other hand, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Eliseu-c12315.
Portillo and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manuel-c23383 Pellegrini.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 were hosting the game at the Nou Camp and won the fixture 4-1, putting a few dents in Malaga’s hopes of qualifying in the UEFA Champions League next season; especially with Levante only 3 points behind them at the fifth spot.
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